The present invention relates to feeders for livestock and in particular to a feeder having a flexible cover member in a covering relationship with respect to a receptacle containing a livestock attracting material such as feed, salt, a mineral or the like.
Protected feeders are known in the field of animal husbandry and a variety of different designs have been developed in an attempt to allow livestock access to feed or other attracting material and at the same time protect the material from the elements and contamination. One type of protected feeder which is illustrated in the Hatcher U.S. Pat. No. 2,709,988 comprises a trough with a pivotally mounted inflexible cover which may be pushed aside by livestock to gain access to feed or salt. However, feeders such as these having pivotally mounted inflexible covers tend to be cumbersome for the animals to use and do not protect the feed or other attracting material while the livestock are feeding. Also, the inflexible hoods must be spaced from the receptacle for the attracting material a sufficient distance to allow the livestock access thereto which, in turn, leaves substantial open areas unprotected for rain, snow, contamination or the like to blow into the receptacle and damage the attracting material whether livestock are using the receptacle or not.
In the present device the cover is positioned relatively close to the open top of the receptacle for the attracting material and thereby prevents alien material from falling or blowing into the receptacle, yet the cover is flexible or pliable enough that the livestock may engage and raise it to gain access to the attracting material. Preferably the cover tends to shroud the portion of the animal's body extending into the receptacle, thereby protecting the contents of the receptacle from weather and contamination while the livestock are feeding.
Heretofore, there has not been available a protected feeder for livestock which utilizes a simple yet efficient flexible cover member which livestock may flex upwardly and thereby feed in an open-top receptacle. The present invention provides a feeder with such a flexible cover, and because the cover is only displaced when and where the livestock physically engage it, the feed material remains protected. When animals are no longer feeding and leave the feeder, the flexible cover member is free to drop back to the protecting position thereof and thereby keep the remaining feed or the receptacle clean and dry. Even while feeding the bodies of the livestock shield the feeder where the cover is raised, and the entire feeder and its contents are substantially protected against the elements.
Insecticide applicators have been used in conjunction with protected feeders as exemplified by my U.S. Pat. No. 3,821,940, No. 3,941,096 and No. 4,023,533 and the Gilmore et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,187,772. While the contents of such a feed receptacle may be shielded from weather by the insecticide dispenser, there remains the problem of contamination by the insecticide material. Therefore, it is foreseen that applicant's structure is adapted for use with an insecticide dispensing device and avoids contamination problems created by the insecticide in addition to other possible contaminates.